Sins Covered Psalm 32:1-11 1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. Selah 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found; surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Selah 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, but steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! v Intro: To Un-Converted Sinner and Converted Sinner Ø This is a Psalm of David. David is recalling a time of sin in his life He is recalling a time when God s heavy hand of conviction was upon him He is proclaiming to all people how God works in the heart and mind of a person in sin Ø This is a Psalm of Instruction This Scripture instructs the person on how to find forgiveness of sins It is also a Psalm of gladness Gladness if the positive of the Psalm has occurred Ø This is also a Psalm of Warning There are a couple warnings placed within the psalm These warnings are there for the benefit of all people Ø Thank God for warnings Most people want to run from any rebuke But warnings are good They are REALLY REALLY Good aren t they? Let me give you an Example: Let s say a huge rain has come and it has washed a bridge out And this bridge is located where it is hard to see until you get to it So, maybe you come around a turn and there is the bridge. If it has been washed out Wouldn t it be a great idea for someone to place signs saying Ø Bridge out! Turn Around! Stop! Use Caution! IF you keep going you will fall into a river! Ø Stop. Unless you have a Hover Car. Or a car that turns into a boat Warnings are good they are also helpful But, only when you hear and listen to the warning v Outline: Ø Part 1: You Can Have You Sins Forgiven Ø Part 2: God Acts Ø Part 3: Apply This Psalm in Your Life Ø Part 4: Pray This Psalm v Main Argument:
Ø Occurs in verse 6a: So I want you to see it first so you let it sink in 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found The Psalmist wants to instruct as people sing or read this Psalm And He wants them to walk away with one main thought in their brain Ø Last week we looked at Psalm 1 And Psalm 1 made the argument: That Delighting in the instruction of God is the difference b/w being righteous before God or wicked in the eyes of God. Ø Argument Is: Pray! Seek God! And he is going to give you good reason as to why you should walk away from this Psalm Saying man I need to seek the Lord NOW in prayer v Part 1: You Can Have You Sins Forgiven (5 sub points) Ø 1) Sins Can Be Forgiven and Covered: 1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity Let s See three things about sin in these 2 verses; 1) Sin can be forgiven 2) Sin can be covered 3) Sin can be not counted 1) Sin can be forgiven Forgiven means: here it means to be lifted up and removed Micah 7:19 He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. 2) Sin can be covered Covered means: to conceal and to hide Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, 3) Sin can be not counted not counted means: Well counted means that you think about them you take them into account you take value of them So.. the opposite happens You sinned a lot but it is possible for the thousands upon thousands of sins to not be counted on your account 1 Peter 2:24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed. How is this accomplished? Well, David did not understand it all when He wrote this Psalm But God has provided a way of sin covering A way that was better than the sacrifice of animals. There is no forgiveness of sins without the shedding of blood So God set up a system to be in place until the right time to send His Son So that His Son could simultaneously: Ø Be seen as the sacrifice to end all sacrifices Ø And Be offered up to die: Because they could not see who He was Jesus death was trusted in by David who trusted in God by faith David trusted in God to deliver Him from His Sin
Ø steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Jesus Death accomplished all of these things for David The sins are forgiven they are covered they are not counted. No wonder this man is HAPPY! LOOK at how this was done: Ø Jesus carried away your sins in your forgiveness Ø Jesus covered your sins by His blood Ø Jesus had your sins put on Him, so they would not count for you Stop and think on this: Ø 2) Be Honest! That Your Sins Be Forgiven and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 For when I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. 4 For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was dried up as by the heat of summer. So we see they can be forgiven and we see how that was accomplished in Jesus But now let s see how this was applied to David s account David was struggling: See verse 3 and 4 expound God s conviction was heavy upon him Look at the second part of verse 2 In whose Spirit there is no deceit This is this blessed man This man was honest with himself He tried to hide it and cover it himself but He could not do this any longer He was honest with God and honest with himself And this led to Repentance Ø 3) Repent! That Your Sins Be Forgiven 5 I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord, and you forgave the iniquity of my sin. He acknowledged His Sin to God He Did not Hide His Sin He confessed His sin The Result: God forgave the iniquity of His Sin Proverbs 28:13 Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy. Forgiveness of sin does not happen for everyone: It must be applied to the account of the sinner Just because Jesus died does not mean everyone will be saved Only to those who are His children That come to Him in Repentance and Faith Therefore. If you want your sins forgiven do not delay Ø 4) Do Not Delay: That Your Sins Be Forgiven 6 Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you may be found
My Understanding is: That God is showing all people that they are sinners He has placed a conscious inside of every man All men know they have sinned Also: God brings conviction to all people God has made himself KNOWABLE to all people There is an offer of salvation to all people God Does Not Do This Forever: There comes a point when God can not be found There comes a point when conviction is no longer there There comes a point when it is too late There is an urgency in the message: There always has been. Never do you read Keep sinning for now And when you get ready just come on over And repent and turn to God but you are good for now.. There is an urgency in the gospel call To repent now.. not later Why? Because there may not be a later Acts:17:30-31 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; Ø Also: Isaiah 55:6-7 Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; 7 let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. Ø 5) Happiness Follow the Forgiven Sinner 1 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man against whom the Lord counts no iniquity Blessed/Happy: Because transgressions are forgiven Blessed/Happy: Because sin is covered Blessed/Happy Because the Lord does not count iniquity v Part 2: God Acts: Ø God s Protection Surrounds surely in the rush of great waters, they shall not reach him. 7 You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance. Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. Ø God Teaches 8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you. Psalm 28:4-5 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in the way. 9 He leads the humble in what is right, and teaches the humble his way. Ø God s Love Surrounds His Children
steadfast love surrounds the one who trusts in the Lord. Micah7:18 Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. Ø God Makes Us Righteous 11 Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! Romans 5:19 For as by the one man s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man s obedience the many will be made righteous. v Part 3: Apply This Psalm in Your Life Ø 1) Warning: Do Not Be Stubborn / Do Not Be Wicked 9 Be not like a horse or a mule, without understanding, which must be curbed with bit and bridle, or it will not stay near you. 10 Many are the sorrows of the wicked, Explain the horse or mule Neither come to you without being enticed Neither would let you ride them without a bridle To control them you must put something in their mouth and turn them God is instructing us here He is saying stay near to me He says the horse or mule have no understanding. He likens the wicked person to the horse or mule They lack understanding Many are the sorrows of the wicked They may not see them yet, but they are a coming I can tell you though People reap what they sow I have seen this in my own family many many many times The person who lives his life for himself is laden with many problems If you spend a life of drinking and carousing You may run through spouses and money like a big truck burns up gasoline We must not harden our hearts and stiffen our necks to God Do you not know that God s hand can reach everywhere There are a couple things else to see here: 1) God will get to his own 2) God will let some people go to their own destruction Let me assure you of one thing If you are His child, He will never stop working on you You can fight all you want and He will get to you No matter how hard He has to pull on that bridle He is gonna keep on you Now if God is not disciplining you well then you should be afraid He may have let you go If you can live in sin without his discipline you need to wake up quick Cause your destruction is closing in fast There takes a great deal of wisdom and experience to understand this. Ø 2) Do Not Be Afraid: Be Assured Take this Psalm to Heart. Believe This
When He says your sins are forgiven, covered and not counted Believe it don t wallow in guilt in shame when He says your covered Trust Him Do not disrespect the kindness and favor of God toward you God does not cover and forgive your sins So you can still act like your in sin So you can stay down in the dumps Believe God Your sins are covered no matter the depth of the offense Therefore Ø 3) Find Your Gladness in God Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart! Be glad God s work in you should lead to gladness in your life. You know why we have so many mopey Christians? Well because they may not be Christians Or they do not believe God when He says Your account is CLEAN God wants us to be happy in Him He wants us glad in Him He wants us to rejoice in the forgiveness of our sins So much so that He says Shout for joy This is why I do not understand how a person who claims to know Jesus Has no joy in his heart during praise The only thing I can think is: They have never experiences Forgiveness Or they forgot about it Delight in God! Delight in the Works of God Get your mind off of all the negative stuff look at the big picture Look at what God has done for you God has done great things We should respond to God s goodness with gladness and delight Psalm 35:27 Let those who delight in my righteousness shout for joy and be glad and say evermore, Great is the Lord, who delights in the welfare of his servant! Delight in God will change your life It will change your affections Psalm 34:6 Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him! God will Work in the person who delights in Him Psalm 37:4-5 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act. v Part 4: Pray This Psalm Ø Use it in your prayer life Ø Remember the main argument: Because God will forgiven sin And because you must seek the Lord in repentance and trust Therefore Pray to Him seek Him in His Word and Pray to Him Ø Remember the Three Imperatives in this Psalm: Pray/Don t be a Mule/ Be Glad in God Ø Remember the glorious things in this Psalm
God s Sovereign Hand Upon Us, God s gracious forgiveness, God gave David a guilty conscious a blessing from God God did not leave David alone v Invitation: Ø Notice the progression within the Psalm: We have a sinner He is broken and under conviction He cries out to God in the first part of the Psalm He repents He confesses His sin Later in the Psalm we see He trusts in God And this means He has placed His faith in God Finally The person is considered righteous David says rejoice all you righteous!!!! And they are righteous because Jesus has made them so And they are righteous through the Act of Repentance and Faith One Final Word of Clarification: The acts of confession and repentance are not the cause of forgiveness Rather it is the Faith that makes the person right with God And the faith causes the person to seek God for forgiveness I want to make sure no one walks out the doors today thinking: Ø Well, if ill just confess my sins out loud every night, then I will be good Ø That could very easily turn into a works based salvation Ø And it is a tricky slope that Satan uses to deceive people Live as you will, and then confess and your good with God. NO!!!!! Application: I Met a guy outside a bowling alley like this There must be a Faith in God that joins the person to God Then they not only confess their sins But they walk with God